Ayala, SM units dominate 1st Bell Awards

THE AYALA and SM groups garnered the most awards in the 1st Bell Awards given by the Philippine Stock Exchange in recognition of listed companies that uphold good governance.

The five listed companies that received their awards from President Aquino and top PSE officials on Monday night were Manila Water Co., SM Prime Holdings, Globe Telecom, China Bank and Ayala Land Inc.  They were deemed as the cream of the crop among 255 public companies in terms of corporate governance.

MWC, Globe and ALI are key operating units under conglomerate Ayala Corp. while SM Prime and China Bank are under SM Investments Corp. of tycoon Henry Sy.

In the meantime, San Miguel Corp. received a special citation from the PSE for completing the largest equity deal during the year—the landmark P80-billion preferred shares issuance.

During the awarding ceremonies, the President said the PSE’s Bell Awards were contributing to the promotion of integrity by recognizing outstanding listed companies and trading participants who have complied with regulations, contributed to the development of the stock market, and apply best practices at par with international standards.

“Measures like these are important because investors need to know we are serious about protecting their interests, especially now that confidence in the Philippines is growing by leaps and bounds,” he said.

“In the past, if you noticed a spike of activity in the stock market, suspicion would normally arise, that this spike was  due to manipulators scheming to drum up expectations just so they could make a quick profit. They literally created stock market bubbles, with nothing to back it up other than skillful rumor mongering. Naturally, these bubbles burst sooner rather than later, leaving investors with empty hands and empty pockets,” he said.

Highlighting the PSE’s 20th anniversary celebration, the Bell Awards also honored six trading participants, based on their adoption of corporate governance guidelines, the results of regulatory audits and compliance with PSE rules, such as listing and disclosure rules, market regulations and trading rules.

They were chosen among the 133 active trading participants.

The honorees among big brokers were Macquarie Securities, COL Financial and CLSA Philippines.  The top three small brokers were Armstrong Securities, Tri-State Securities and PCIB Securities.